52 – Fantasy

coverblackRecorded May 13th.  Fantasy, faith, magic, & myth.  J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, The Great War, and Wonder Woman.  Middle Earth, Narnia, creating compelling fantasy, approaches to criticism, and overcoming disillusionment.

60 Year Old Spoiler Warning: Ending of The Lord of the Rings and portions of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

[Note: Not really a Wonder Woman episode, a companion to the last episode.  Next few episodes are more DC, less literary history.]

Answers, insights, and commentary on:

  • I. J.R.R. Tolkien (Life)
    • Orphan, Catholic, genius
    • Popular, rugby captain, acting
    • Languages, artist, marriage
    • World War I, Battle of the Somme
    • Philology
    • Beowulf scholarship
    • “On Fairy Stories”
  • II. Secondary World (Depth)
    • References condense information
    • Recall a dragon or a Robin, no citation
    • References are inherent and ubiquitous
    • Broken references organic and immersive
    • Irony, Immersion, or Identification
    • Tolkien reverse engineering patina of myth
    • Tolkien’s perfectionism
    • Superman as myth
    • DC Films epic depth in world-building
  • III. Outcasts Bond Over Obscure Interests (Friends)
    • Tolkien meets Lewis
    • Siegel meets Shuster
    • Lewis encourages Tolkien’s writings
    • Lewis’s life, atheism, studies, service
    • Connection, fellowship, encouragement
    • The Inklings
  • IV. Approach to Criticism (Reaction)
    • Critical response to The Lord of the Rings
    • Stigma of fantasy and superheroes
    • Creating stories with conscious purpose
    • Wonder Woman as psychological propaganda
    • Academic intellectual dishonesty
    • “An Experiment on Criticism”
    • Surrender, reading well, repeat readings
  • V. Disillusionment (Lies)
    • Tolkien & Lewis are counter-cultural and subversive
    • Unrealistic optimism at start of the war
    • H.G. Wells: “The War That Will End War”
    • Ways Wonder Woman could be disillusioned
    • Disillusionment after World War I
    • Fantasy as recapturing immaterial wonder
    • Good, evil, and corruption in fantasy
    • Eucatastrophe, Frodo fails, divine grace
    • Corruption in these DC films
    • Reality and realism as cure
    • Fantasy to represent magic of the familiar
    • Tolkien & Lewis believe in heroism
  • VI. Resonance (Truth)
    • Tolkien & Lewis differences didn’t divide
    • Tolkien & Lewis didn’t discriminate against works
    • Openness to Wonder Woman, picking at differences
    • Looking for truth and resonance over heresy and imperfection
    • Seeing unappreciated value, Planet Narnia
    • Imagination and emotions before intellect and allegory
    • Watchful Dragons
    • Applied to the Wonder Woman mythos
      • Secrets, Truth, Beauty, Subversion, War, Myth, Wonder

To learn more:
Myths and Legends Podcast | Jason Weiser
What is Myth? | Crash Course Mythology
Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics | J.R.R. Tolkien
On Fairy-Stories | J.R.R. Tolkien
Battle of the Somme | Wikipedia
David S. Goyer Talks Man of Steel | Collider
A Film Portrait of JJR Tolkien (1996) | Landseer
Tolkien and the Great War | John Garth
An Experiment in Criticism | C.S. Lewis
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War | Joseph Loconte
The Secret History of Wonder Woman | Jill Lepore
Walter Hooper: Life of C.S. Lewis | Socrates Society
Planet Narnia | Michael Ward
The Narnia Code | BBC
The Narnia Code | Michael Ward
Ursala K. Le Guin on Tolkien | Talk of the Nation
Superheroes Decoded | History
End notes recorded May 16th
The Bridge of Khazad Dum | Howard Shore
Wonder Woman | The Bombsters

Web: ManOfSteelAnswers.com
Twitter: @mosanswers
Subscribe: iTunes / RSS / Stitcher / YouTube http://feeds.feedburner.com/ManOfSteelAnswers

#WonderWoman